Seeing is believing…or is it?

Our third installment of #SocialSpeak is brought to you by everything unreal.

What you see is no longer what you get.

With new techs coming up basically everyday, the human brain is no longer satisfied with reality, and would rather create its own. People have their phones on them all day (and all night), and now they can change the world around by looking through their small screens.

Augmented reality (AR) is the digital overlaying of information on an image through the use of technology. It is also virtual reality’s lesser known cousin, taking the real world, and changing or adding to it. While VR is a total immersion experience, AR is more grounded and less intrusive.

This lead it to be more sought out; it is now included in games, TV experiences and even advertising. AR has changed the way a lot of companies address their marketing and advertising strategies, as now they have more room to go into detail about their product. The  US Postal service, for example, adopted the storytelling method of marketing through the use of AR. People could use their app to see the story of the institution, how they can get their shipments sent, and received and many offers.

When we discussed AR with Mohamed Amer, SOCIALEYEZ’s manager for platforms and audiences, he said that he believed that “Marketers have no sky limits on how they can tell their brands stories in the Augmented Reality world.”  AR is a new way for companies to tackle marketing in a fun and enticing way, allowing for marketers to spread their creative wings and do things that they were not able to do before.

AR got its first big break through games like Pokemon Go. The game made such a hype that big companies like Mcdonald’s started jumping on the bandwagon, by making deals with the game to drive users to it by making stores into gyms and pokestops. You know, find a pokemon, grab Big Mac.

AR was also used as an exclusive pass to more content; companies utilized the technology to highlight their customers’ experiences, and add more to their static content. New York City launched the NoAd app, where New Yorkers can look at the ad space on the subway and see artistic pieces instead as an initiative to get people to appreciate art, like they’re walking through a museum. AMC cinemas created an AR app, where users could scan a movie poster and be able to see information about the movie, the cast, the trailer, and even be able to book tickets straight from the app. We’re surprised popcorn didn’t come out of the phone, wouldn’t that be the dream?

The latest advance in AR came from Apple inc. introducing AR among the features of their new iPhone. The company didn’t just add the features of AR in the devices, they also adjusted the camera with new technology to help it create a seamless AR experience, as well as allowed developers to develop new AR apps to work with the new tech. Imagine the amount of dog filters we can put on things, now. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, along with many tech tycoons, believe that AR is the future of technology. He believes that AR will be a staple in our day-to-day lives, saying that we will “have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day. It will become that much a part of you.“

If you want to keep up with everything social, wait for our weekly posts. We’ll be back with more exciting things happening in the social media world.